Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Teeth

"Um, you should really see a dentist. To be honest, they don't teach us much about teeth in medical school. So you should really see a dentist."

"Oh, but can you look?"

"I guess I can look in your mouth, but, really, a dentist is the person to go to. I can see if there's anything that looks like you need to see a specialist, anything medical that looks like it's going on, but any problems with your teeth, please, please, make an appointment with a dentist, or we can set you up with the dental clinic."

"Oh, but they really hurt."

"Okay, I can take a quick look and see if it seems like there's an obvious infection or something that even I can see is wrong."

She opens her mouth.

And pulls out a complete pair of dentures.

Uppers and lowers.

And tries to put them in my hand.

"Okay, this is definitely an issue for a dentist. I'm really sorry, they don't teach us dentures. I'll give you the number for the dental clinic."